I remember a time in my childhood when I was a very bad gift giver. It was my oldest brother’s birthday, and I wanted to be noticed for giving him a gift, but I didn’t have much that I was willing to part with. So I hatched a simple solution. I gave him some little toy or something of mine (I don’t remember exactly what it was) and within a few days, promptly took it back! I wanted to be seen as a giver, but I didn’t want my giving to cost me anything. Perhaps you had a similar experience when you were young. Eventually we grow up, have a little more, and usually find it easier to share our things with others. But we never entirely outgrow the temptation to give that which costs us nothing or next to nothing and still congratulate ourselves for our generosity, like I did when I was a child. 

There was an event in the life of David that reminds us of the importance of resisting the temptation to give God gifts that cost us nothing. In 1 Chronicles 21, David did something that displeased the Lord. Evidently his desire to take a census of the people was somehow a reflection of something in his heart, perhaps a misplaced trust in human strength instead of God’s strength. Consequently, Israel was suffering under a plague because of David’s actions. Burdened with the knowledge that the people were suffering for his own wrongdoing, David begged the Lord to let the punishment rest fully on his own shoulders, and not the peoples’ (1 Chron. 21:17). Then the Lord instructed David to go and offer a sacrifice at the threshing floor that belonged to a man named Ornan. David immediately went there and found Ornan threshing wheat. When David requested to buy the land from Ornan, Ornan offered to give David not only the piece of property, but also all the wood and animals he needed for the sacrifice. David’s response is striking: “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing” (1 Chron. 21:24). 

David refused to offer a sacrifice to the Lord that cost him nothing. He was fully vested in what he was doing and was more than willing to incur significant expense if that was what it took to make things right. I wonder, how often do I give the Lord that which costs me nothing? Do I ever give to the Lord the way I gave to my older brother so long ago, wanting to be noticed as a giver but not wanting it to cost me anything?  Do I just give enough to convince myself that I’m a giving person, or do I give even when it costs me? May God strengthen us to give ourselves–and all that we have, and all that we are–to him and to his cause.